2008 Great Groove Band News!
Old Songs Fest June 27-29, 2008 - Guest teacher: APRIL VERCH
This great Canadian fiddler and step-dancer will teach a tune and a short step-dance routine to Groove Band members at Saturday morning rehearsal, so don't miss it!
participants | faculty | band music | summer camp | register | Old Songs slideshow with music
The Great Groove Bands at the Old Songs Festival and the Philadelphia Folk Festival were a huge success in 2007. The Old Songs band rolled into its 8th year and the Philly Folk Fest band had a great second year. The Great Groove Band makes fiddle and folk music accessible to young people who sing or play a (mostly) stringed instrument. The 2007 bands included fiddlers, guitarists, bass players, drummers, pianists, flutists, a sax player and more. At Old Songs, fiddler Louise Arsenault from Les Girls and Barachois taught the band a tune and a simple stepdance combination.
Inaugurated in 2000 by Amherst, Massachusetts fiddler, performer and educator Donna Hébert to provide an opportunity for school-age players (ages 6-18) attending the festival to use their skills to learn about fiddle and folk music, The Great Groove Band at Old Songs Festival averages 35 young musicians a year, with 21 onstage at the Philadelphia Folk Festival the first year. Eager participants join the band for the weekend, rehearsing intensively for three days before a main-stage performance on Sunday.
Both festivals call on a great volunteer staff who skillfully shepherd the group, tuning instruments and helping kids get organized. 2007 volunteers included Heather Wick, Judy Harvey, Mary Beth Boyle and Nate Ouellette. Also joining us in Philadelphia were volunteer fiddlers Daniel Boucher, Pamela Gonyer and flute and saxophonist Julie Sorcek.
Sectional rehearsals address the students' differing skill levels and are used to teach arrangements. As well as the big band, the group breaks into smaller ensembles of more skilled musicians for the Sunday performance.
Some Groove Band members are in their seventh year with the group, and it's the high point of their summer. Fourteen-year-old Albany area fiddler Colleen Holyroyd says, "The Great Groove Band has shown me how to play, perform, and pass it on, opening windows and doors of opportunity." Says her mother, Nancy Holroyd, "Not only is Colleen learning to make the kind of music that she loves, she's learning to pass it on at her after-school traditional strings program. Particularly valuable is the Groove Band experience of turning a tune into a performance."
Old Songs Festival director Andy Spence is an enthusiastic supporter of the Great Groove Band, observing that, "Fiddle tunes provide an opportunity for the players to share the thrill of making music with friends, playing for dancing and just for fun! In the relaxed atmosphere of the Festival, Groove Band members keep the traditions alive, meet new friends from distant places, and begin the process of passing the music on."
The Great Groove Band depends on the efforts of Groovemama members Max Cohen, teaching guitar, rhythm, vocal and instrumental arranging; Stuart Kenney (Rodney Miller Band, Tidal Wave, Dance Flurry Big Band) teaching bass and banjo; fiddlers George Wilson (Whippersnappers, Fennig's All-Stars, Beaudoin Legacy) and Donna Hébert (Chanterelle, The Beaudoin Legacy, Fiddling Demystified) teaching teens and improvisation while fiddler Jane Rothfield (Jane's Gang, Atlantic Bridge) takes on the youngest and newest players, aided by our skilled interns. Jane and crew transform the youngest from shy newbies to band members in three days! Parents and music teachers also volunteer their assistance in getting the large group in tune, moving throughout the group to help wherever necessary.
Donna Hébert has arranged more than 200 songs and fiddle tunes for violin/flute, viola, cello and clarinet, with chord charts for backup players and basic half-note settings of each tune for new players. The repertoire ranges from Amazing Grace to Norwegian waltzes to Irish jigs and Scottish marches and French-Canadian, New England and Appalachian reels and songs. Each band uses the the Great Groove Band Volume I and a play-and-learn CD with 9 fully-styled tunes with chord charts and basic settings, which can be ordered (please specify instrument) for $25 plus $5 shipping from
Donna Hébert, POB 2632, Amherst MA 01004
SUMMER CAMP WEEKS AT OLD SONGS
Those wanting to continue the Great Groove Band experience can come to the first of the Fiddle & Strings Day Camp Weeks. Week I (July 7-11) is for ages 6-18, Week II (July 14-18) at Old Songs in Voorheesville NY. Later weeks (July 14-18 for adult novice-intermediate players) and Fiddling Demystified for Strings (July 28-Aug. 1) provide a similar experience for adults. Email Andy Spence andy (at) oldsongs (dot) org) at Old Songs to inquire or register for any of the camp weeks. Teachers George Wilson, Donna Hébert, Max Cohen and Jane Rothfield will use curriculum from the Groove Band book and students will kick up their heels for a camp concert. Week II (July 14-18)
REGISTER FOR THE GREAT GROOVE BAND
2007 was our eighth year at Old Songs Festival and we hope you can join us next year for our ninth! Tickets are available at the Old Songs Festival website. For more information about our program, or to register any musician for the Great Groove Dance Band at the next Old Songs Festival or at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, please contact Donna Hébert. Be sure to let us know:
- Your instrument
- Skill level/how long played
- Have you been in the band before?
- Parent e-mail address
- Music reader or not?
- Have book/CD already?
See you at the 2008 Old Songs and Philadelphia Folk Festivals - Groove on!
OLD SONGS FESTIVAL June 27-29, 2008
www.oldsongs.org - Register for the festival
Register for the Great Groove Band, order book/CD on or before registering for the festival.
PHILADELPHIA FOLK FESTIVAL August 15-17, 2008
www.folkfest.org - Register for the festival with your family - one adult must be festival-goer. Register for the Great Groove Band, order book/CD when you register for the festival.